i pimped this, Stingray Sam, the other day over on one of the other threads but i'm obssessing over how much i enjoyed it so i'm putting it here too.

it's a set of six 10 minute episodes - the first two of which you can watch on youtube.

he did another called American Astronaut which is also worth a watch -the trailer's a bit crap so check out this scene instead...

also worth a watch is I Sell The Dead, which has a nicely homemade feel to it despite (judging by the cast) there obviously being a bit of cash floating around. again, the trailer doesn't really do it justice

Night Dreams IS brain-meltingly awesome/strange pornography. This is technically safe for work, but it may not be safe for your sanity. Only watch where you can burst into laughter, then re-watch like thirty times. An aside: That music is totally in the movie - it's not added for weirdness. This is the actual trailer they released.

The one I always try and push on people is The Boxer's Omen (which goes by the deceptively simple original name of Mo) as it is quite possibly the strangest film I've seen (and I've seen a lot), even by the standards of Asian supernatural movies it is out in front of the field.

It appears some scamp has uploaded the lot in 14 parts to YouTube so you can nose through it (although it is better when watched drunk with like-minded friends, drugs might not be advisable) but as a taster here one of the magical fights (which contains either real or simulated animal killings so might not be suitable for anyone who is offended by that or emetophobes):

If you want to start watching online then here is part 1:

[edit: And then I get the search working properly and find it already recommended earlier in this thread, my only defence is they did say you can't recommend it enough.]

"NIGHT CATCHES US" doesn't exactly star no-name actors. Anthony Mackie was one of the main soldiers in "The Hurt Locker" and Kerry Washington starred in "Ray," among other films. But given how hard commercial success in America unfortunately is for films with a mostly black cast (well, there are white racist asshole cops) and a potentially controversial subject (Mackie and Washington play former Black Panthers with a painful shared past), it never hurts to recommend this film. The Panthers' legacy forms part of the backdrop of the film, but the main focus is on how one lives when the political movement one lived for has fallen into ruins.

The other film which might or might not make it to theaters in America is even more controversial. It's "FOUR LIONS," a comedy about modern day English Islamic terrorism. The director, Chris Morris, was responsible for the TV satire series BRASS EYE, which notoriously ran an episode satirizing anti-pedophile hysteria. The film portrays its four would-be martyrs as a band of idiots to greater or lesser degree. Even Omar, the most together of the lot, can't get his wife to obey sharia law. Then again, the English police forces aren't much brighter. What makes the film something that would never be made in America is that Morris doesn't shrink from the fact that even though his lead characters are buffoons, they still have the will and potential to kill innocent people.

I don't have a link, but has anyone seen Jan Švankmajer's Alice? Based on Alice in Wonderland, it's stop motion/live-action. Jan Švankmajer is the guy who influenced the Brothers Quay, who, in turn influenced Fred Stuhr and Adam Jones, the guys who made those Tool videos.

I believe someone said you can find Alice (or in the original Czech, Nico z Alenky) on Youtube, but I'm at work and can't access Youtube.

Giant - sized, not to mention wonderful, thread, which I just went through in a few minutes' time, so if I skimmed over this particular movie, I apologize: Kikujiro by -- and starring -- Beat Takeshi / Takeshi Kitano. Like most of his movies, it's weird, brusque, charming, fun, heartbreaking, and uplifting. I think one of his more popular films is Brother, with Omar Epps, and he was in Johnny Mnemonic, which was silly but kind of great in its own low budget sci-fi kind of way. He also did a great reboot of Zatoichi - The Blind Swordsman. It's not quite what you'd expect from what is basically a samurai movie, and that's the case with all of his movies. Take a weekend and check him out.

Last night we had a screening at my school of a film called "Ballast". It won a few awards at Sundance in 2008 but it was really really interesting. Not for everyone and very much part of the Dogma-style of film making. It was a fascinating film that was extremely well-acted by nonprofessional actors. Very cool.Trailer for "Ballast" (2008)

@ Chainsaw.serenadepersonally, i really disliked the zatoichi remake purely because of the digitally animated swords. it just seemed so half-arsed. the angles didn't even match when he stabbed someone. the originals are so much better. and the lone wolf movies (which are kind of related) are even better - especially the last one - White Heaven in Hell - which is movie perfection.